Escape
by Subject to Nightmares
Summary: Just your average run through a nightmarish forest while being pursued by an otherworldly monster who wants to mentally torture and eventually kill you.


I rush, scared and alone, through the forest. The moon hangs above me, scrutinizing my every move. It is not interested in aiding me, I can tell, as it allows clouds to cross over it, dimming my vision, throwing me into darkness. I know he is following me. Silently, he moves faster than I can even imagine. I keep running, hoping I can get away, but deep down I know, I will never escape him.

The wiry metal fence is suddenly upon me, seeming to appear out of nowhere. I run straight into it, and it sounds loudly in the unforgiving quiet. I think that the noise must have alerted him to my position, but he always knows where I am, regardless of how quiet or careful I try to be. He owns this forest. He owns me.

I pant, I've been running for what feels like forever, fear fuelling my legs; my heart pounds in my chest, the blood rushing so loud behind my ears that I'm sure he can hear it, too. My eyes are just now getting used the darkness, when the moon comes out from behind its cloudy blanket. Now it seems so bright, compared to the darkness that encompassed me and my surroundings only seconds ago. I can see, almost as though it was day, all around me the trees that look down upon me, surely laughing at my misfortune. I gaze longingly past the fence, beyond the border of the forest, into more darkness, wondering if he could follow me out of this Hell. I start to climb the fence. I grip the chain links with all my might, knuckles white, and pull myself up. I put my feet inside the metal-bordered diamonds, and push, eagerly thrusting myself towards freedom. I allow this feeling of hope to grow inside me, though I have doubt also blooming in the corners of my mind. Surely it can't be this easy, I wonder to myself, as I climb, almost at the top of the fence. I reach the top and hoist myself over, flinging myself headfirst the the ground on the other side. I land with a roll, and then I lie on my back for a moment, trying to catch my breath.

I eventually sit up, and gaze dreamily at the field of grass all around me. I've escaped. I've won. I'm free. Out of the forest, into the wide open. I get to my feet and start walking away from the fence. I don't know where I'm going, or where I am for that matter. All I know is that I need to get away from the forest. Get away from him. Far, far away from this terror and fear and cold darkness.

Looking into the sky as I walk, I stare at the moon, still hovering above me, watching. I notice that there are no starts, although it is a relatively clear night, with few clouds lingering here and there in fluffs and wisps, threatening to cover the moon, should they float close enough. I thought maybe I could locate the north star, and from there try to make my way home, but all that I see is the moon, and an ominous feeling washes over me.

I try to tell myself to just keeping looking ahead, and that I will eventually find my way to civilization once again. The night can't last more than a few more hours, and even if I don't reach the safety of a town, I will have the sun to watch over me and protect me from any evil that lurks in the darkness. As long as I keep on moving, there is nothing to worry about. I just have to keep my wits about me, and never look back.

Never look back. That is the only rule. Don't worry about what is behind me, only what is in front.

One rule. Only one.

Just keep walking. Looking forward, hoping.

It feels like I've been walking for hours, and I'm so sore. My feet ache, I'm tired, and it's getting harder and harder to stay awake. Just stay alert. I look up to the moon, hoping for some sort of support, some sort of sign that maybe I was actually going to make it alive, home to my warm bed. All I received, however, was the painfully horrific feeling that everything was not, in fact, going to be okay. I got this feeling when I realized that, although I'd been walking for what I thought had been a few hours, the moon had not moved at all. It was still firmly above me, glaring down at me. Mocking me. I stopped in my tracks. Not possible. Not even remotely possible. The moon should have gone down by now, surely. It should be on the verge of setting, and yet there it is, in the sky, taunting me. It must be ashamed of deceiving me, because as I stare at it, a cloud wanders over and covers it, protecting it from my looks of accusing betrayal. I feel so defeated. Has time been standing still this whole time? How can this be happening? What is going on? Then I think of the one rule, never look back. Surely, after all this walking, even though the moon has not moved, I should be far, far away from the forest. Still, this terrible feeling consumes my entire being, and I think to look behind me, dreading what I know can't realistically be there, and yet…

I turn around. I shouldn't have. I know I shouldn't have, but I did anyways, and my greatest fears are true. There, not a few feet from me, is the fence I climbed over hours ago, and just beyond it, the damned forest. I am breathless. The forest is so dark, with the moonlight being obscured by the cloud that covers the untrustworthy moon. I can just make out the outlines of the trees and their leaves. I stare, bewildered, unbelieving of this impossible turn of events.

The cloud that has wandered over to cover the moon slowly passes by, uncovering the moon once again, as I stand there, a broken man. I want to cry as I stare into the forest of nightmares. The moonlight slowly spreads, all around me, and towards the fence. It passes beyond, and I follow the gloomy rays to the edge of the forest, and that's when I see him, standing there among the trees, so tall that his head touches the leaves on the trees. Though he has no eyes, I know he is staring at me- through me, into my soul. The moonlight has surpassed his position among the trees, so I can see him more clearly now. He is so tall and thin, wearing a black suit and tie, like some kind of ghastly gentleman. Even though he is illuminated, he seems to be in such a dark area, like a giant shadow is covering him. Then I realize, the shadow I see is emanating from him, like tendrils of thick black smoke. His hands seem to be made of this same harrowing fog, which sprawls out from the cuff of his sleeves. His eye-less head is just a white bulb, protruding from his neck, and I can't stop staring. I don't blink, I don't breathe, I just stare at him. He just stares back.

I finally give up, and I blink. In the fraction of a second it takes to blink, he shifts his position from among the trees to right up against the fence. I gasp, and step back. I try not to blink again, but I have to. My eyes scream as they dry up, and I strain to stay strong and keep my gaze locked on the monster that torments me, but I am weak. I blink, and again his position shifts. From behind the fence one second, to in front of it the next, he stands so still, daring me to make a move. He's playing with me, surely. Torturing me, for fun. Like a cat toying with its prey, he's cornered me in this infinite limbo of terror. He's going to taunt me, and mess with my mind, until he grows tired with me. Once he's bored with me, he'll kill me, definitely. There's no question about it, his motives are sick entertainment.

I refuse. I refuse to be his toy. I refuse to be this child's play thing, to be a temporary victim, just to be slaughtered in the end. I will have none of this. I will show him he does not have this power over me. He has no control over me. I will make him see, with his non-existent eyes he will see. Even if he does kill me, I won't make it any fun for him. He won't get any enjoyment out of me.

I blink again.

He's gone.

I blink again and again. Still, he is nowhere to be seen. Maybe he knows what I'm thinking, and he's given up? No, I can't give in to such childish whimsy, such impossible hope. He's probably planning something to get at me. To get in my head, to torture me, mentally, before he ends me, physically. I can't see him, anywhere, not among the trees, or along the fence. He isn't anywhere in my line of sight towards the forest, so he can only be one other place. Behind me.

I stiffen up, frozen in fear at the prospect of having this ominous figure looming behind me. I can't turn to look, though. I can't bear it.

I hold my breath, clench my fists, and with my tight muscles I turn. Slowly, I swivel to look behind me. I scan the field, turning from left to right, looking in a circle, but he's nowhere. Not in this open field, lit only by the haunting moonlight, I can see far out in each direction, and he isn't anywhere.

My heart drops, I've played right into his trap. He knew I'd turn around. He knew I'd take my eyes off of him, turn my back on him, and now I'm open for him to sneak up behind me, for real this time. A cold breeze washes over my back, down my neck, through my spine and into my very core. I can feel the dark tendrils, wispy fingers of cold death, licking at the skin on my back. It seeps through my clothing, into my pores, into my blood. A weak cry escapes my lips. I am a grown, adult man, completely incapacitated by an impossible monster, in an impossible place. I just want to cry, but again I'm petrified, fear paralyzing me, moulding my feet to this spot on the ground. A static sound fades into life in my ears. It slowly grows louder, as my vision starts to dim. The darkness spreading from him is flowing out from behind me, surrounding me, so it's just the two of us. Tears stream from my eyes, and I feel so small and inadequate. I feel like I've failed. How did it come to this? How did I get here? Why me? All these questions and more swim in my mind, behind my eyes, as I am enveloped in the thick tendrils that spread all around me. I finally find my feet, although it is definitely too late, but still I try. I turn around to face my walking nightmare. He stares down at me, and the static in my ears intensifies, and increases in volume and pitch until it sounds like a blood curdling scream. The static creeps into my sight as well, until all I hear and see is static, with just the faint outline of the macabre gentleman still in front of me.

Then it all goes black.

I'm awake, lying in what seems to be an open field, surrounded by a dark forest. I don't know where I am, or how I got here. I look at my surroundings, trying to understand what's going on. Looking into the sky, I can see a bright full moon, and a few clouds here and there in the dark night sky. All around me, the forest looms, and chills run up and down my spine.

"Hello?" I call out.

"Anyone?"

No reply. I take a deep breath. What is going on?

I scan the forest in a full circle surrounding this small field, and in the distance, standing very tall and very straight, is a peculiar looking man. No, wait, it's not a man, it's a mannequin. It does't have eyes or a mouth, or ears. Just a bulbous white head, and a sharp suit. What is a mannequin doing in the middle of a creepy forest? What am I doing in the middle of a creepy forest?

I look away from the mannequin, in the opposite direction, trying to get my bearings, trying to understand my surroundings. Have I been here before? The forest doesn't look familiar to me. This is just ridiculously strange. I shake my head and look back towards the mannequin again, wondering why it's here, and why it's so freakishly tall.

It's gone. The mannequin is gone. It feels as though ice is forming on my spine.

I blink, and the mannequin is back, but it's closer now. Did it move… by itself? Oh God, what Hell is this? I blink again, and it's even closer.

No. No. NO.

I turn, and I run.


End file.
